Man with broken nose (Mask), Design c. 1903, cast 1963

The sitter for the first version of this early sculpture was a worker from the Paris suburb of Saint-Marcel around 1863. The eponymous main feature of the subject is reminiscent of the pugnacious Michelangelo Buonarroti (1745–1564), who incurred a broken nose in his youth. “Rodin has been called the modern Michelangelo; it would be equally correct to call Michelangelo the Rodin of the Renaissance,” noted Ludwig Hevesi (1843–1910) in January 1901 regarding the French sculptor’s monumental works in the 9th Exhibition of the Vienna Secession. However, August Rodin (1840–1917) was not unknown to Viennese audiences before the Secession exhibitions: in 1873, his terracotta works were displayed at the World’s Fair and in 1882 The Age of Bronze and John the Baptist were shown at the Künstlerhaus. When Rodin visited Vienna himself in June of 1902, Hevesi penned another essay to honor, not only his art, but also the personal charisma of the “President of the French Republic of Art.”

IR, 2019